d factual information to the contrary. Nevertheless, Hart's actions were a revelation to many people which caused them to reevaluate his qualifications for president. In this latter context, this instance of gossip must be considered to have had a positive aspect.
The most reprehensible use of gossip that I can recall since coming the United States involved the actions by the Reagan Administration with respect to hungry people in the United States, and with the need for government to provide assistance to these people. I recall that the Attorney General, Ed Meese, said that, if anyone in the United States went to bed hungry, it was because of a matter of personal choice. At the time Mr. Meese made this statement, I had personal knowledge of individuals who were unable to provide sufficient food for themselves, who had for some reason been unable to qualify for governmental food assistance, and who were not always able to obtain sufficent food from volunteer food banks.
As an officer at the highest levels of the United States government, it would be unthinkable that Mr. Meese had not been provided with the true facts of the hunger problem in the coun try. One must conclude, therefore, that Mr. Meese, and other Reagan Administration officials, intentionally spread false information, gossip, for the prupose of supporting the Adminis tration's political agenda, in an attempt to deflect any public criticism of the administration without having to actually address the situation through deeds, and to seek revenge on a
group of voters which the Administration likely concluded had not voted for President Reagan in the past, and would not likely do so in the future.
In was particularly galling to watch Attorney General Meese spread gossip about the hungry in America. Ed Meese is a jowly, fat man who appears never to have never missed a meal, and who likely had had at least four meals a day for years. For such a persons to say ...